Advert Analysis- Sharwoods

Sharwood’s- Bring on the Colour

This is a television ad for a new Sharwood’s product ‘Stir-Fry Melts’. The ad is fast-paced and full of colour. The campaign screams liveliness, flavour and ease- it simply shows the small cube being melted into a stir fry to create a delicious flavour. There are tons of cut away shots, showing snippets of chillies falling down the screen or a simple shot of a woman with bright red lipstick displaying a huge grin. This shows the product is a ‘life-booster’; it promotes happiness, fun and excitement.

·         Light ·         Small ·         Happy ·         Smile ·         Fun ·         Chillies ·         Neon ·         Bright

·         Colour ·         Taste ·         Flavour ·         Excitement ·         Easy ·         Delicious ·         Home Cooking ·         Eternal Youth

Brand identity:        The Company’s slogan is ‘Serve up some excitement!’

Typical Target Audience:

Their ads are typically quite colourful and humorous, with actors of a range of ages. I would say they appeal to everyone, other adverts show the ‘Sharwood’s bus’ travelling up and down Britain in search of the perfect curry. But this one in particular seems to target young adults, probably in their late 20’s who are accustoming to home cooking. I say this because of the cosmopolitan, trendy woman displayed at the end of the ad eating her noodles with chopsticks sat on her kitchen side. The easiness of the product would benefit an audience who don’t particularly like cooking, but enjoy eating delicious tastes. Perhaps it’s aimed towards students or young professionals living in a town or a city.

I would suggest it is more targeted towards females, aged 20-30 living a comfortable life (B, C1, C2, and D) and most categories of young and Rubicams 4C’s; Mainstreamers (a well-known brand) Reformers, Aspirers, Explorers (The colourful campaign is new and interesting)

Structure:

This is a stand-alone advert which does not conform to any of the forms given, other than stand alone. I would say it is closest to humorous as it is silly and harmless. It is very short (30 seconds) so does not follow any kind of narrative. The ad starts with the worlds ‘GET READY’ in bright yellow flashing on our screen with a modern kitchen in the background. It continues to cut to the beat, showing peppers being chopped, the product being placed on a side with flashing colour behind it, Broccoli being chucked into the pan, oriental lanterns changing colour and so on. The words ‘LITTLE POT’ flashes on screen too, with a short clip of the pot being peeled open. It goes on to ‘LIGHT COATING’ and we can see the dish being cooked, lots of ingredients being stirred in a wok and being flipped and fried. ‘FULL OF FLAVOUR’ and we can see a puppet of a Chinese dragon growling towards the scree, furthermore flashing neon lights, perhaps in Tokyo to enrich the ad with the cultural theme of the product. The advert finishes with a brightly dressed actor eating the finished product, looking very happy. ‘BRING ON THE COLOUR’ and we see her wink at the camera. Finally, we see the product again displaying all the new flavours.

 

Persuasive Techniques:

I would say this advert definitely has emotional appeals, it makes viewers feel excited and daring. It boasts individuality; reaching out to other cultures and screaming loud colours.

It also uses loaded language, throughout the advert words such as ‘Flavour’ ‘Light Coating’ and ‘Colour’ appear on the screen. The consumer is made to believe this product will positively enrich their life. The ‘wow’ factor of the ease of consumption (it shows the product being cooked in seconds) is definitely another persuasive technique.

ASA Rulings:

Due to the light-hearted nature of this advert, there have been no ASA rulings against it. I also researched further into the Sharwood’s company and their past adverts, and they have never had any problems with breaching any ASA standards.  There is nothing in this ad which i would consider offensive or a problem to anyone.